2015 Baseball Season In Review
The Season
Oregon State finished the season with a 39-18-1 record, and posted a 19-10-1 mark in Pac-12 Conference play. OSU finished in sole possession of second place, 2 1/2 games behind league champion UCLA. The Beavers, in the preseason, were predicted to finish fifth by the conference’s coaches.
To The Postseason
The Beavers were hopeful of a hosting opportunity at Goss Stadium. That was not meant to be. That, however, didn’t take away from the fact the Beavers advanced to their seventh consecutive postseason, extending it school-record stretch. Oregon State, in fact, was just one of 11 schools nationally to advance for the last seven years, and the only from the Pac-12. The Dallas Baptist Regional appearance gave the Beavers 10 trips in the last 11 years.
Since 2005
Since 2005, the year of OSU’s first trip to Omaha, the Beavers have won 30 or more games 10 times, including the 39 victories in 2015. Over that stretch, Oregon State has won 459 games, or 42 per season, which is second only to Arizona State’s 464. The Beavers also have 184 league victories, which is nine shy of conference leader Arizona State’s 193. OSU can also claim 13 All-Americans since 2005, which represent half of the program’s all-time total.
Honors
Andrew Moore received a large chunk of the team’s individual honors in 2015, recording four All-America Awards while also being named an Academic All-Region selection while studying digital communications. He was joined on the All-America list by Jeff Hendrix, who was a first-time selection. KJ Harrison, Drew Rasmussen and Mitch Hickey were all named to at least one Freshman All-America Team. All told, 10 players received at least one award during the season.
Closing The Gap
Andrew Moore was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week three times and Drew Rasmussen once to give OSU 77 selections since the league began the award in 1986. The Beavers are creeping up on Stanford, which leads the conference with 80. KJ Harrison, meanwhile, earned the team’s lone Player of the Week honor in the second week of the season, becoming the Beavers’ first freshman to do since Kavin Keyes in 2011. OSU now has 66 such honors, tying it with Washington State for third-most.
MLB Draft
Four Beavers were selected in the MLB Draft: Andrew Moore (second round, Seattle), Jeff Hendrix (fourth round, New York Yankees), Travis Eckert (20th round, San Francisco) and Gabe Clark (26th round, Toronto). Moore and Hendrix have signed and have already made their professional debuts. The Beavers have now had at least one MLB selection in every draft since 1993, and have had four or more in 11 of the last 12 years.
Casey Climbing The Charts
Head coach Pat Casey won 30 or more games for the 16th time in his 21 seasons at Oregon State, and has 754 entering the 2016 season. He’ll need just 10 to surpass former USC head coach Mike Gillespie for eighth in conference history.
Youth Is Served
Oregon State went into the season knowing it would field a young club, and that was truly the case. Not once did the team’s starting lineup feature more than 40 percent upperclassmen. At least six freshmen and sophomores started every single game. Only a handful of times did the Beavers start a lineup with four upperclassmen. And when doing so, that typically happened with first-year Beavers Travis Eckert (junior) and Dane Lund (senior). Eckert, Andrew Moore, Clay Bauer, Zack Reser and Austin Woodward were the only upperclassmen to see action on the hill.
Another RBI Leader
Never before have OSU players led a specific statistical category in the Pac-12 for four consecutive seasons. Until now. KJ Harrison drove in 60 runs, leading the Pac-12. He follows Dylan Davis (2013 and 2014) and Michael Conforto (2012) at the top of the list. Harrison’s 60 RBI ranks him eighth on OSU’s single-season records list. Seven of the players in the top 10 recorded their tallies since 2000.
Power Surge
The Beavers experiened a power surge offensively this season, hitting 40 home runs, good for second in the Pac-12. OSU was led by KJ Harrison’s 10, which placed him into third in the league. Ten different Beavers hit at least one home run, with multiples coming from Gabe Clark (eight), Jeff Hendrix (six), Caleb Hamilton (four), Joe Gillette (two), Michael Howard (two), Logan Ice (two) and Kyle Nobach (two).
